In any other fiction, the lake can be said to be haunted by a hag.
In SM Stirling's A Meeting At Corvallis, it is named after a politician whose surname was Hagg but later is said to be haunted by a hag.
In ambiguous fiction, there can be unconfirmed hints of a haunting.
In psychological fiction, a character can see or sense a hag without implying the literal existence of such an entity.
In science fiction, there can be a scientific rationale of a being resembling a hag.
I think that that exhausts the possibilities. As usual, there were more of them than expected.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I can certainly see how, after the collapse caused by the Change, names like "Hagg Lake" can become the more ominous sounding "Hag Lake."
Sean
Paul:
In mystery fiction, the appearance of a hag haunting the lake can be FAKED by some person or organization. This is usually but not always for a criminal purpose; I can think of a few different stories where the character faking a spooky manifestation hoped to scare the actual villain into making a mistake or outright confessing.
David,
You thought of a possibility that I missed.
Paul.
Kaor, David!
I really should have thought of the possibility you discussed! Perhaps the earliest example of using a faked supernatural person or animal in mystery might be the large dog painted with phosphorus in THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, by A. Conan Doyle. The villain of the story was using the dog to make it look as tho something supernatural had killed his uncle (and attempted killing of his cousin).
Seam
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